GE Withdraws From Nigerian Railway Concession Deal

'Dotun Akintomide
Writer

Ad

Why Wike Should Resign or Be Sacked: A Call to Organized Civil Society in Nigeria to Uphold Anti-corruption Standards with Consistency, By Frank Tietie

By Frank Tietie The revelations by Nigerian social crusader, investigative journalist, and activist Omoyele Sowore regarding the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyiesome Wike, are serious and warrant the attention of all Nigerians who care about the integrity of the country. Sowore has alleged that Wike laundered funds and concealed the purchase of…

Dangote Refinery Slams PENGASSAN, Describes Order as ‘Economic Sabotage’

By Abiola Olawale In an escalating labor showdown, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has fired back at the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), criticising the latter’s order on Saturday. This is as the refinery owned by Africa’s richest person, Alhaji Aliko Dangote described PENGASSAN's order to cut crude oil and gas…

Intimate Affairs: ‘I don’t want a mother-in-law,’ By Funke Egbemode

By Funke Egbemode Tola doesn’t wish anybody dead. She just doesn’t want to go through what her mother went through in the hands of her grandmother. She had been told that she might just be lucky and end up with a husband with a kind mother. But she’s scared, I believe, irredeemably, by the trauma…

Ad

General Electric (GE) has pulled out of a long-term concession deal with the Nigerian government to maintain and operate narrow-gauge rail lines in the country, a procurement process adviser told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Nigerian railway concession project was worth around $2 billion for two lines connecting northern cities to others in the south.

The government had been due to enter into negotiations last year with GE over a railway project, although Nigeria’s Senate had said it would probe the railway concession over possible violations by Nigerian officials.

It was not clear why GE pulled out of the concession. The company was not immediately available for comment.

A consortium led by GE had submitted the only bid for the project in partnership with Transnet CGETR.UL of South Africa, Dutch-based APM Terminals and China’s Sino hydro Consortium.

Fola Fagbule, senior vice president and head of advisory at Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), which ran the procurement process after being appointed lead adviser by the government, said Transnet was in discussion to replace GE. Economic growth in the country has been hampered for decades by its dilapidated rail network, built mainly by British colonial rulers before independence in 1960.

The concession was meant to cover about 3,500 km (2,200 miles) of existing narrow-gauge lines from Lagos to Kano in the north and from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

Ad

Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
X whatsapp